Illinois state Senate kicks Blagojevich out of office

Nepotism didn’t work out this time…

The Illinois state Senate voted unanimously to boot Gov. Rod Blagojevich out of office Thursday, hours after the embattled politician made a last ditch effort to save his job.

Blagojevich, who had mounted a massive public relations campaign in recent weeks, will be the first U.S. governor in more than two decades to be kicked out of office by impeachment.

The former governor was accused two months ago of trying to auction off the federal Senate seat left vacant by President Barack Obama.

The allegations were made public after FBI wiretaps allegedly recorded Blagojevich saying that a Senate seat “is an (expletive) valuable thing.”

After a four-day trial in the state Senate, the final vote was 59-0 to oust the second-term governor, which ends two months of extraordinary political and legal wrangling which played out in the public eye.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn will take over the state’s top political job immediately.

On Thursday night, Blagojevich spoke to media outside of his Chicago house and promised to “keep fighting to clear my name.”

He also asked for a chance to prove that “I haven’t let you down.

“I love the people of Illinois today more than I ever have before,” he said.

But language from Blagojevich’s political foes was less sanguine.

“We have this thing called impeachment and it’s bleeping golden and we’ve used it the right way,” said state Sen. James Meeks during the impeachment proceedings, referring to Blagojevich’s curse-filled tirade capture on tape by federal investigators.

While the senators convicted Blagojevich under abuse of power charges, U.S. prosecutors are expected to indict him on criminal corruption charges in the spring.

Blagojevich has also been barred from ever running again for public office in Illinois.

Though he initially boycotted his impeachment trial, Blagojevich pleaded his case to the state Senate during a dramatic, 47-minute speech earlier Thursday.

“You haven’t proved a crime, and you can’t because it didn’t happen,” Blagojevich said.

“How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?”

While Blagojevich told senators that he occasionally mixed political fundraising with office decisions and took administrative shortcuts, he always did it with the best intentions to serve the people of Illinois.

Blagojevich also told senators during his 47-minute speech that the taped telephone conversations unearthed by the FBI only reveal the everyday workings of modern politics.

In fact, Blagojevich said the allegations against him are things “all of us in politics do in order to run campaigns and win elections.”

Criminal charges

During a media blitz earlier this month, Blagojevich hit the New York talk-show circuit and appeared on high-profile TV shows like “The View.”

Though Blagojevich was attempting to pitch his case in the court of public appeal, anything he said during those interviews could come back to haunt him during his criminal trial, said U.S. legal expert and attorney Pat Woodward on Thursday.

“I think there’s a reason why his defence attorney resigned last week,” Woodward told CTV Newsnet from Washington.

“Cynics might say he’s auditioning for a media career,” he said. “If any lawyer had any control over him, he wouldn’t have done that, because the prosecutor, Mr. (Patrick) Fitzgerald, can use anything he says in public.”

“You never know what is going to come back to bite you … I would be really concerned about that,” said Woodward.

Referring to the impeachment trial — which Blagojevich initially boycotted — Woodward said that it appeared the former governor didn’t take the process seriously.

“He had an opportunity to participate in it, he chose not to, presumably, because he didn’t want to cross-examined,” said Woodward, adding that Blagojevich “swooped in at the last minute to try and make his pitch.”

Can’t white people get along?

Proving the point that there need be no minorities around for white folks to get into trouble.

White terrorists kill 16 civilians, mostly woman and children

Standard white rules of engagement : target and kill woman and children and then call them militants.

MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Thousands of Afghans protested against President Hamid Karzai and the United States on Sunday over reports of fresh civilian deaths caused by U.S.-led troops during a raid against Taliban militants.

The issue of civilian casualties is sensitive in Afghanistan and has eroded public support for Karzai’s government and the foreign troops backing it.

It has also caused a rift between Karzai and his Western allies more than seven years after U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban’s government.

The operation causing the latest controversy happened this week in eastern Laghman province. The U.S. military said on Saturday that troops, backed by air support, had killed 15 militants in an overnight operation.

Assadullah Wafa, a Karzai adviser investigating the deaths, said on Sunday that “16 civilians, many of them children and women, were killed” in the operation.

“We strongly condemn it and want an end to it (civilian casualties),” he told reporters in Mehtar Lam, Laghman’s provincial capital, where the protest was held.

A statement from the presidential palace quoted Karzai as saying that bombing villages and causing civilian deaths “will not bear any progress in the war against terrorism.”

Karzai said failure to coordinate attacks with his government would weaken its sovereignty and bolster the militants, it added.

A spokesman for the U.S. military said it planned to jointly investigate the incident with the Afghan government this week.

Chanting slogans against Karzai and the United States, thousands of people took part in the protest despite heavy rain.

“If the foreign troops do not put an end to their operations, we will launch jihad,” said Malik Hazrat, a protest leader.

The provincial governor tried to calm the demonstrators and invited them for talks with representatives of the U.S.-led troops. But some protesters threw stones at him and he stopped his speech.

There was no report of injuries and by midday the protest had simmered down.

Nearly 700 civilians were killed in operations by foreign and Afghan forces against the militants until October last year, according to a national human rights body based on a U.N. estimate.

Karzai, who has repeatedly urged foreign troops to coordinate operations with his government, last week termed civilian deaths as a main source of Afghanistan’s instability.

White terrorists kill Iraqi couple in bed, wound child

Wonder why the Iraqis hate them?

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi couple was killed in their bed Saturday morning as their daughter slept between them when U.S. forces raided their home.

The U.S. military said that the raid, in the area of Hawija, just west of Kirkuk , was an Iraqi government approved operation against a wanted man and that the killings were in self-defense. But the family described the slayings of a modest farmer, his wife and the wounding of their daughter by U.S. forces as the three slept.

According to a U.S. military statement, at 2 a.m. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers entered the bedroom where the couple lay and the woman reached under the mattress. The soldiers told her multiple times to show her hands; when she didn’t, they shot her, the statement said.

The woman’s husband, Dhia Hussein Ali , jumped up and “physically attacked” the soldiers after his wife was shot, the statement said. The soldiers killed him in self-defense, the statement said. The couple’s 9-year-old daughter, Alham, was injured during the attack.

After the killings a “high-powered pistol” was found under the mattress, the statement said. U.S. and Iraqi troops went to the house because they believed Ali was a member of Al Qaida in Iraq and later identified him as a wanted terrorist, the statement said. He had been detained at least once before by U.S. forces in a detention center in southern Iraq in 2004, his family said.

The U.S. military said the operation was “fully coordinated with Iraqi authorities (who were also present for the operation) and conducted with full respect for the Iraqi Constitution and the laws of Iraq .”

After a security agreement took effect Jan. 1 , the U.S. military can conduct operations on their own if Iraqi authorities approve them and they are coordinated with Iraqi authorities.

Ali Dabbagh , the Iraqi government spokesman, said he had no information on the raid.

Brig. Gen Abdel Kareem Khalaf , the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior , told National Public Radio that no Iraqi forces were present at the raid, and he demanded an investigation. It was unclear if the raid was approved, he said.

“We have asked for a joint investigative committee plus we have asked for an explanation from the American side regarding what happened,” he told NPR . “Up to now there were victims on the ground and we have to know why.”

In the small village where Dhia Hussein Ali lived, his children and his father questioned the reason for the raid. Ali was a modest farmer with a small fish pool where he raised the popular carp eaten in Iraq , they said. The man was a former officer in Saddam Hussein’s army.

Omar Dhia Hussein , 14, was in shock Saturday night. He said in a telephone interview that in the morning he’d seen his parents’ bodies side by side in their bed, the sheets covered in blood. The wall was covered with his father’s blood, he said.

At 2 a.m. , Omar said, he heard a bang of a percussion grenade. When he opened his eyes he saw American soldiers standing over him in the room where he slept with his two sisters. Except for an Iraqi interpreter there were no Iraqis with the Americans, he said.

The interpreter shouted at the young boy.

“You are hiding weapons,” Omar recalled the interpreter saying. “Where are you hiding the weapons? You are terrorists, you are hiding weapons in that unfinished house. Confess!”

Omar began to cry and his sisters wept with him, he said. Then the American soldiers left and he heard gunfire next door. The soldiers carried Omar’s wounded sister from the room and took the remaining four children, including Omar, to his uncle’s home. Outside were at least four U.S. Humvees and two SUVs, Omar said. His grandfather, Hussein Ali , who lives next door saw no Iraqi soldiers, either.

After the Americans left, Omar and his sisters returned to their home with their grandfather. In his parents’ bedroom, Omar said, he saw his father’s body at the very edge of the right side of the bed, motionless and bloody.

His mother lay in the middle of the bed in a pool of her own blood. She’d been shot in the head, the family said.

“I will avenge my father’s death,” Omar said calmly Saturday evening.

White man charged in killing baby he fathered with daughter

First Austria, then Britain and now its happening in America. I’m beginning to see a sick trend here…kinky that the wife knew about it and did nothing.   [hat tip to chocolatecoco]

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — A man who fathered four children with his teenage daughter has been charged with murder after the remains of two infants were found in coolers on property where the family once lived, authorities announced Friday.

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The 47-year-old is charged with one count each of second-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child and statutory rape, and two counts each of incest and abandoning a corpse.

At a news conference earlier in the day, Cass County prosecutor Teresa Hensley said three of the four children the man fathered with his now-19-year-old daughter are dead, but he has been charged with just one of the deaths so far. Authorities allege that the man began molesting his daughter when she was 13 and that the teenager’s mother knew about the abuse and helped her husband deliver their grandchildren.

At an arraignment Friday afternoon, the man said he did not yet have any attorney and peered down at court documents as Judge Thomas M. Campbell read the charges. He indicated to the judge that he didn’t understand the murder charge, and Campbell repeated it to him a few times.

The Associated Press is withholding the suspect’s name to protect the identity of his daughter, an alleged sexual assault victim.

The father was arrested Wednesday night in Daviess County, where he had been living recently. The next hearing for the father is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Jan. 29.

According to court documents, the daughter told police that he had fathered all four children, while the father told detectives he was certain two of them were his. Both said all the children were delivered at home by the father and his wife.

That woman is charged with endangering the welfare of a child for not reporting the alleged sexual abuse of her daughter. She is free on $10,000 bond.

“We have a child who at age 13 had her father sexually molesting her. And her mother allowed it,” Hensley said. “Who she would have turned to is hard to determine. For six years (the daughter) was under his control.”

The father is charged in the death of a boy who was born Nov. 17, 2006, and believed to have died of pneumonia on Feb. 28, 2007. Authorities believe the baby became ill and that the suspect and his daughter, who has not been charged, never sought medical attention.

Investigators are still looking into the death of the other infant, and say a third child fathered by the suspect also is dead and is believed to be in Oklahoma. Hensley and Sheriff Dwight Diehl referred questions about that death to Oklahoma authorities.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the state medical examiner said they were not familiar with the case.

The surviving child is a 3-year-old boy who is in state custody, Hensley said.

Court documents state the wife told police that she was jealous of the close relationship between her husband and her daughter. Asked why she stayed married to her husband, the woman became upset and said “she wasn’t good enough to find anyone else,” according to a probable cause statement.

The woman also told a detective that she desperately wanted a son and would accept one even if her husband fathered the child with her daughter, according to the statement.

Calls to multiple phone numbers under her name were not answered Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the woman has an attorney.

Theresa Sims, a relative who attended Friday’s arraignment for the father, said the extended family didn’t know about the alleged sexual abuse or the 19-year-old’s children until October, when the teenager’s sister contacted police.

“We never knew anything, never seen any babies. When we first heard about it, it was just hard to believe,” Sims said.

After receiving the sister’s tip, Cass County authorities used cadaver dogs to search the rural property where the family once lived. Nothing was found during that search, but on Jan. 1 the new owners of the property found two small coolers and contacted police.

Inside each cooler was the body of a child, officials said.

The suspect’s mother said her son and granddaughter had lived in a camper trailer beside the house where she lived north of Harrisonville, and she wasn’t allowed to go back there.

“I didn’t know there was a baby,” she told The Kansas City Star. “He’s my son and I love him, but I can’t go along with this.”

She said neither her son nor his wife ever worked.

“They should never have been parents,” she said.

White man goes on rape and murder spree to “save” the white race

Why would a man trying to save the “white race” rape a woman of color? Perhaps some good old fashioned prison rape will help him get his bearings straight.

BROCKTON – Had Brockton police not stopped an “evil plan of mass murder,” dozens of innocent people could have been massacred by a 22-year-old computer geek intent on stopping the “extinction” of the white race, police said.

“It really could have been a disaster,” said Joshua Cohen, rabbi of Temple Beth Emunah, where accused double-murderer Keith Luke told police he planned to end his hate-fueled rampage by spraying a bingo night crowd of hundreds with bullets. “Only through the good work of Brockton police were we able to avert a huge disaster and tragedy.”

Brockton Police Chief William Conlon said had Luke not been stopped, “it would have been much worse.

“I think it shook the whole community,” said Conlon, whose officers dodged bullets as they chased Luke through Brockton.

Prosecutors allege that Luke, 22, hatched his plan of racial vengeance months ago with the goal of slaughtering as many “Jews, blacks and Hispanics” as he could.

Wednesday morning, he left his mom’s house in Brockton in a black Ford van. He was strapped with a 9mm handgun and 200 rounds of ammunition he bought on the street, police said.

It’s unclear what triggered him to launch the attacks, Cruz said.

According to a chilling police report, Luke started the day at his old apartment, intent on killing his 20-year-old Cape Verdean neighbor, Selma Goncalves, then taking to the streets to kill as many “non-whites” as he could.

He planned to end the day precisely at 6:30 p.m. at Beth Emunah before shooting himself, but instead he led police on a wild car chase – at one point firing at officers – before surrendering.

He later told cops he was “fighting extinction” of the white race.

Luke was arraigned yesterday in Brockton District Court on murder, assault and rape charges, and civil rights violations. The 320-pound, 6-foot-tall defendant was ordered held without bail.

Killed in the attack were Arlindo Goncalves, 72, a homeless man who was blasted in the face and back as he pushed a carriage of cans, and Selma Goncalves, who was shot in the back as she fled her blood-splashed apartment, where Luke allegedly shot and raped her sister. The Goncalves sisters are not related to the third victim.

Anabela Fernandes, 24, described her uncle, Arlindo Goncalves, as a kind man who struggled with alcohol and got by collecting cans. “He never did nothing to nobody,” she said.

Luke lived with his mother on Pleasant Street, where he kept to himself, other than going to the gym. A law enforcement source called him a “recluse” who spent hours on his computer, and tooled around the neighborhood on his bicycle.

“He was my whole life,” Luke’s mother, Dara, cried to the Herald yesterday, adding that her son battled mental illness. “I swear, I never thought he’d be capable of something like this.”

Luke’s attorney did not deny the allegations in court, only saying that his client had a “history.”

US court : Sex between teachers and students OK

You’re supposed to teach them not have sex with them, but it might help lower truancy rates.

SEATTLE – Washington state law does not bar teachers from having consensual sex with 18-year-old students, an appeals court ruled Tuesday in dismissing a case against a former high school choir teacher. The teacher, Matthew Hirschfelder, was charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor for allegedly having sex with a Hoquiam High School senior in 2006. He challenged a judge’s refusal to dismiss his case, arguing the student wasn’t a minor because she was 18.

Hirschfelder, who was 33 at the time, also denies any sexual relationship occurred.

A three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals unanimously agreed that the case should be dismissed. While the law was written vaguely, a review of legislative history shows that lawmakers only intended to criminalize contact between teachers and 16- or 17-year-old students – not those over 18, the court said.
“The name of the statute is ’sexual misconduct with a minor,’” said Hirschfelder’s attorney, Rob Hill, stressing that the state recognizes that an 18-year-old is no longer a minor.

The state’s code of professional conduct for teachers still prohibits any sexual advance toward or contact with pupils, whatever their age, and teachers can be fired for it. Sexual contact with students younger than 16 is considered child rape or molestation; the age of consent in Washington is 16.

Hirschfelder has not been able to work as a teacher since late 2006, when he was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the school board. He was arrested and charged in spring 2007, after a former choir student told police she had a monthslong affair with him that began shortly before she graduated.

His case did not go to trial because it was stayed pending the appeals court ruling, Hill said. He has been tuning pianos to make ends meet.

Grays Harbor County Prosecutor Stew Menefee did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press, but he told The Daily World newspaper of Aberdeen that he would consider appealing to the state Supreme Court.

Some state legislators are set on changing the law. On Monday, six state representatives introduced legislation that would make it a crime punishable by a mandatory minimum of five years in prison for a teacher to have sex with a student up to age 21, as long as the teacher is five years older than the student and at the same school.

Rep. Larry Haler, R-Richland, the main sponsor of the bill, said he offered it at the request of the Richland School District, after a judge dropped a sexual misconduct charge against a Richland High School teacher because the teacher’s alleged victim was 18.

“This is a real concern of mine, and with the court decision today, that just strengthens this bill,” Haler said. “We need to protect our students as long as they’re in our public schools, irrespective of age.”

Great White men in history : George W. Bush

Nice farewell salute…

50. “I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn’t here.” —at the President’s Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002

49. “We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease.” —Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001

48. “You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.” —Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001

47. “We both use Colgate toothpaste.” —after a reporter asked what he had in common with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Camp David, Md., Feb. 23, 2001

46. “Tribal sovereignty means that; it’s sovereign. I mean, you’re a — you’ve been given sovereignty, and you’re viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities.” —Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004 (Watch video)

45. “I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what’s moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003

44. “I’m the commander — see, I don’t need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being president.” —as quoted in Bob Woodward’s Bush at War

43. “I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport.” —Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001

42. “The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself.” —Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 29, 2003

41. “I saw a poll that said the right track/wrong track in Iraq was better than here in America. It’s pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2004

40. “Oh, no, we’re not going to have any casualties.” —discussing the Iraq war with Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson, as quoted by Robertson

39. “I hear there’s rumors on the Internets that we’re going to have a draft.” —presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004 (Watch video)

38. “Haven’t we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to do it again?” —to economic advisers discussing a second round of tax cuts, as quoted by former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil, Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2002

37. “We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.” —Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002

36. “After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain, we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week — we will have an all-volunteer army!” —Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004 (Watch video)

35. “Do you have blacks, too?” —to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001

34. “This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating.” —as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

33. “I got to know Ken Lay when he was head of the — what they call the Governor’s Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994. And she had named him the head of the Governor’s Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that’s when I first got to know Ken and worked with Ken.” —attempting to distance himself from his biggest political patron, Enron Chairman Ken Lay, whom he nicknamed “Kenny Boy,” Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2002

32. “It is white.” —after being asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001

31. “I couldn’t imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah.” —at a White House menorah lighting ceremony, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001

30. “For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It’s just unacceptable. And we’re going to do something about it.” —Philadelphia, Penn., May 14, 2001

29. “I don’t know why you’re talking about Sweden. They’re the neutral one. They don’t have an army.” —during a Dec. 2002 Oval Office meeting with Rep. Tom Lantos, as reported by the New York Times

28. “You forgot Poland.” —to Sen. John Kerry during the first presidential debate, after Kerry failed to mention Poland’s contributions to the Iraq war coalition, Miami, Fla., Sept. 30, 2004

27. “I’m the master of low expectations.” —aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

26. “I’m also not very analytical. You know I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things.” —aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

25. “I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I believe is right.” —Rome, Italy, July 22, 2001

24. “We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates.” —Washington, D.C. Oct. 4, 2001

23. “People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in’s house and say I love you.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002

22. “I wish you’d have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it…I’m sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn’t yet….I don’t want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I’m confident I have. I just haven’t — you just put me under the spot here, and maybe I’m not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one.” —President George W. Bush, after being asked to name the biggest mistake he had made, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2004

21. “The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway.” —explaining why high taxes on the rich are a failed strategy, Annandale, Va., Aug. 9, 2004

20. “My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we’re going to run out of debt to retire.” —radio address, Feb. 24, 2001

19. “You know, when I was one time campaigning in Chicago, a reporter said, ‘Would you ever have a deficit?’ I said, ‘I can’t imagine it, but there would be one if we had a war, or a national emergency, or a recession.’ Never did I dream we’d get the trifecta.” —Houston, Texas, June 14, 2002 (There is no evidence Bush ever made any such statement, despite recounting the trifecta line repeatedly in 2002. A search by the Washington Post revealed that the three caveats were brought up before the 2000 campaign — by Al Gore.)

18. “See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don’t attack each other. Free nations don’t develop weapons of mass destruction.” —Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003

17. “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” —State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003, making a claim that administration officials knew at the time to be false

16. “In Iraq, no doubt about it, it’s tough. It’s hard work. It’s incredibly hard.” —repeating the phrases “hard work,” “working hard,” “hard choices,” and other “hard”-based verbiage 22 times in his first debate with Sen. John Kerry

15. “The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

14. “I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

13. “But all in all, it’s been a fabulous year for Laura and me.” —summing up his first year in office, three months after the 9/11 attacks, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2001

12. “I try to go for longer runs, but it’s tough around here at the White House on the outdoor track. It’s sad that I can’t run longer. It’s one of the saddest things about the presidency.” —interview with “Runners World,” Aug. 2002

11. “Can we win? I don’t think you can win it.” —after being asked whether the war on terror was winnable, “Today” show interview, Aug. 30, 2004

10. “I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.” —Washington, D.C. June 18, 2002

9. “I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.” —to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004

8. “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” —speaking underneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003

7. “We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories … And we’ll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven’t found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they’re wrong, we found them.” —Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

6. “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!” —President George W. Bush, joking about his administration’s failure to find WMDs in Iraq as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents’ Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004

5. “If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” —Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000

4. “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” —Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002 (Watch video)

3. “Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.” —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004 (Watch video)

2. “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004 (Watch video)

1. “My answer is bring them on.” —on Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003

How Whites will see Obama as….

White teenager shot parents who took away his Xbox

Game over. Why are white teenagers predisposed to such violence?

A 17-year-old has been convicted of shooting his parents in the head after they took away his video game.

Daniel Petric killed his mother and wounded his father when they banned him from playing “Halo 3″ and took away his Xbox console. He now faces a possible life sentence.

Lorain County Judge James Burge convicted him of aggravated murder for the death of his mother, Susan, 43, and attempted aggravated murder for the attack on his father, Mark, 46.

The judge ruled that although Petric’s obsession with the video game, in which players shoot aliens, may have warped his sense of reality, the boy knew what he was doing and had planned the shooting.

On the night of the shooting, Petric used his father’s key to open a lockbox and remove a 9 mm handgun and the game.

Mark Petric testified that his son came into the room and asked: “Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you.” He testified that he expected a pleasant surprise. Then his head went numb from the gunshot.

The teenager then put the gun in his father’s hand in an attempt to make the shootings look like murder-suicide. When he fled the scene, he only took one item with him: the “Halo 3″ game.

Judge Burge rejected the defence attorneys’ argument that Petric, 17, of Wellington, Ohio, was not guilty by reason of insanity, saying that the teen’s youth and addiction made him less responsible. Petric played the Halo games as much as 18 hours a day at friends’ houses when he had the chance. Tried as an adult, Petric now faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison without parole.

Judge Burge said there was ample evidence that the boy planned to kill his parents. But the judge said he believed playing the games long enough caused physical and psychological changes in the teenager’s brain, similar to drug use. “When you stop, your brain won’t stand for it, just as it wouldn’t stand for it when you quit using heroin or crack cocaine,” he said.

The popular Halo series involves destroying aliens. Once the game ends and a new game starts, the aliens return. Simply put, death in the game is only temporary, the judge said.

“I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever,” he added.

Family members have said they have forgiven the teenager. Mark Petric, a pastor at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, stood up as deputies led his son from court. The teenager turned and gave his father a wave goodbye. “We love you, Danny,” the father yelled.

Bungie, once part of Microsoft, developed the Xbox 360-exclusive Halo 3, and Microsoft owns the game’s intellectual property. Microsoft declined to comment beyond a statement: “We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case.”

Accused Deputy Impersonators Cuffed By Homeowners

How is this different from regular cops?

Two men are under arrest in El Dorado County accused of dressing up as deputies, storming a home, and robbing the residents at gunpoint.

When the two arrived at a Billy Petree’s Camino home, he thought they were the real thing. They were dressed up as Placer County’s Sheriff’s Deputies.

“He said ‘we’re here on a raid’,” said Petree. “The other guy says ‘we are here for loud music.’

When Harvey Baker and Alexios Alexander couldn’t get their story straight, Petree knew the badges were fake, but the guns were real.

“Their guns were fully loaded. One of them stuck it to the back of my daughter’s head,” said Petree.

The 22-year-old says then the two suspects handcuffed him.

“They grabbed jewelry and little nick-nack stuff ’cause they couldn’t find any money,” said Petree.

Now all alone, Petree found a phone, and dialed 911 behind his back. Deputies showed up just as the two suspects were running away.

“I’ve have never seen a cop run from a citizen before,” said Bobby Dwyer, neighbor.

Sitting on his front porch, Dwyer realized his neighbor needed help, and rushed to help.

“We handcuffed him with his own handcuffs,” said Dwyer.

Deputies caught the other suspect and recovered both uniforms.

Sheriff’s deputies say they don’t know how the suspect got the uniforms or why they may have targeted Petree’s home. Baker and Alexander are being held without bail.

The two were arraigned Friday on charges of home invasion, possession of stolen property, impersonating an officer, resisting arrest, and possession of a firearm.

White sex offender will baby sit your child for $12…

..provide that they are females only between 11months and 9 years of age. Why was this guy released in the first place?

For the past week or more, residents of Jasper County had noticed advertisements posted at various places throughout the county offering babysitting services for $12 per weekend — but the ads solicited the babysitting services for “Females only” and requested their ages be “11 months thru 9 years.”

The ads also caught the attention of investigators with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department, who discovered the man posting the bulletins across the county was Thomas Louis Van-Hook, a convicted sex offender, who has victimized, at least, three female children in the past. But because Van-Hoot was off parole, had completed his sentencing requirements and had no stipulations to stay away from children, law enforcement officials were having a difficult time trying to find a way to charge him with a crime.

“We know where he is and we are waiting on a judge to sign the warrant,” Bob Walker, a Jasper County Sheriff’s Department investigator told The Examiner on Friday.

The Examiner was told by a law enforcement source on Friday that a 2-year-old child may be Van-Hook’s latest victim.

“From what I was told they began investigating this after a little girl was left with him,” said The Examiner’s source. “Because she is so young she can’t make an outcry and unless he injured her the exam isn’t going to reveal anything.

“He is out there actively trolling for fresh victims. And because he has served his time, I am not sure what we can do about it until he victimizes another child. This guy is a sick bastard.”

Sheriff’s investigators said they were not aware of anyone that had responded to the ads or of any children being assaulted by Van-Hook. They are asking for anyone who left their children with Van-Hook to contact them.

The Examiner also obtained a copy of a letter that Van-Hook wrote in 2004 to the Procter & Gamble Company, the makers of Pampers Diapers, where he requested that the company do more to show the genital areas of children. The head of corporate security for Procter & Gamble sent the letter to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.

Van-Hook provided a dozen scenarios on how he thought Pampers should film their commercials in the 7-page letter. One scenario was that Pampers’ commercials should show a little girl laying on a couch for a diaper change and the cameras could show her, “with her little legs wide open.”

Van-Hook also suggested using pampers baby wipes on girls as old as nine. In his closing paragraph, he write, “there should not be a problem of your showing a nine-year-old girl’s beautiful, pretty little hairless …”

According to records from the Texas Department of Public Safety Sex Offenders Database, Van-Hook was convicted three times for indecency with a child by exposing himself to girls ages 4-year-old, 6-year-old and 3-year-old.

Van-Hook was taken into custody at his residence in Jasper on Friday and is being held on a $300,000 bond.

White cop executes restrained man with a bullet in the back

To serve and protect…

Upside down nude skiing for beginers

Ouch!

A Vail, Colorado skier ‘exposed’ a problem with the ski-resort’s chairlift New Year’s Day. A male skier’s pants were stripped down to his knees as he dangled upside down from the chairlift while resort staff rushed to get him down.

The understandably “anonymous” 48 year old skier was attempting to board a chair lift at Vail’s Blue Sky Basin when the mishap took place.

Reportedly, the lift’s fold-down seat failed to drop into place, causing the man to fall through the gap in the chair’s frame. The man dropped, but his his pants and skies caught in the lift’s frame as he dangled nude upside down.

Although staff got the lift stopped quickly, the exposed skier hung upside down for about 15 minutes before chairlift operators were able to find the button labeled “reverse”, bringing the lift back to a frigid landing.

Vail officials say the man was not injured and estimated his “hang” time to be closer to 7 minutes. The images were provided to “The Smoking Gun” by skiers who witnessed the incident.

White Couple Refuses To Take Responsibility After abusing their child

More quality white parenting. Oh, and nice teeth.

A Holiday, Florida couple was arrested Thursday after deputies found a child living in a house that stank from animal feces, rotten food, trash, broken furniture and drugs.

Heather Thrift Evans, 31, and Robert Wayne Evans, 33, were arrested Thursday on child neglect and drug charges following a deputy’s trip to the couple’s home after receiving an anonymous tip about a child’s welfare.

Upon entering the home, located at 4814 Foothill Drive, a Pasco County deputy found a 10-year-old girl living in filthy conditions. Deputies found pet feces/urine on the floor and rotten food that was left in various rooms.

Deputies also say they found a baggie containing cocaine residue laying on the floor in plain view inside the room the 10-year-old girl was found.

According to the arrest report, the couple acknowledged the poor conditions of the residence but allegedly “did not wish to accept responsibility” for them.

Heather and Robert Evans were booked into the Pasco County Jail on felony child neglect and possession of cocaine charges. They are currently being held in lieu of $15,000 bond each.

Masked White man waited in line to rob bank

Not the smartest of his kind…

STOW, Ohio – A man may have tipped his intentions when he stood in line at an Ohio bank wearing a ski mask before staging a holdup. Police in Stow near Akron say 24-year-old Feliks Goldshtein of Highland Heights was arrested minutes later on Thursday following a brief car chase.

Police say the teller asked the man to take off the mask before being served. At that point the man displayed what turned out to be a toy gun and told the teller to give him all the money. He made off with an undisclosed amount.

Police Captain Rick Myers says it’s unusual for a masked robber to wait in line at a bank.

Goldshtein was held at the Summit County Jail Friday on charges of aggravated robbery and failure to comply with a police order. Municipal Court records don’t identify an attorney for Goldshtein.

White Pastor in gay scandal: I’m back from ‘wilderness’

…and ready for a massage by a gay prostitute(like last time).

Speaking out two years after being embroiled in a gay sex scandal, former evangelical pastor Ted Haggard said Friday his sexual identity is complex and can’t be put into “stereotypical boxes,” but that his relationship with his wife is stronger than ever.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Haggard did not rule out a return to public life or the pulpit. He spoke before he appeared before TV critics in Los Angeles to promote “The Trials of Ted Haggard,” an HBO documentary on Haggard’s exile after his confession to “sexual immorality” and fall as a top evangelical leader.

“I am guilty. I am responsible,” Haggard, 52, said Friday in a phone interview. “I got off track, and I am deeply sorry and I repent … I’m moving along in a positive direction.”

Haggard resigned as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals and was fired from the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., in November 2006 amid allegations that he paid a male prostitute for sex and used methamphetamine.

In a written apology at the time, Haggard confessed to a long battle against feelings contrary to his beliefs and admitted buying the drugs but said he never used them.

During a guest sermon last November at a friend’s church in Illinois, Haggard said a co-worker of his father molested him when he was 7, an experience that “started to produce fruit” later. Clarifying that Friday, Haggard said: “I’m certainly not saying that because of that, I did this. I did what I did by my choice, and I’m responsible for it.”

Haggard said he isn’t qualified to judge what factors into one’s sexuality, but still believes it’s “God’s perfect plan” for marriage to be between a man and woman.

“I think sexuality is confusing and complex,” Haggard said. “I am totally completely satisfied with the relationship with my wife now, but I went through a wandering in the wilderness time, and I just thank God I’m on the other side of that.”

Asked whether he could define his sexual identity, Haggard said: “The stereotypical boxes don’t work for me. My story’s got some gray areas in it. And, of course, I’m sad about that but it’s the reality.”

Later Friday, in a Q&A session with reporters at a Television Critics Association meeting in Universal City, Calif., Haggard said he should have been more open with his family and his congregation earlier, calling his actions “hypocrisy.”

Asked to expand on his attitude toward homosexuality, Haggard said, “I believe all human beings fall short of the standards they believe in.”

He added, “I would say the biggest change is I now know about hatred than I ever dreamed, and I know it doesn’t help. And I know more about judgment and I know it doesn’t help. Since my experience, I know more about the power of love and forgiveness. I know a lot more about the necessity of people not judging one another.”

At the time the film was shot in 2007, Haggard described still occasionally struggling with same-sex attraction. Asked Friday whether those attractions remain, Haggard did not say definitively but said he was “not anywhere near” where he was at that time.

In the documentary premiering Jan. 29, Haggard is shown shuffling from motel to motel, driving a moving truck, enrolling in a college psychology course, struggling as a door-to-door salesman and pondering his fate while laying in a motel bed in a white undershirt.

“At this stage in my life, I’m a loser — a first-class loser,” he says.

Now back living in Colorado Springs, Haggard said Friday he hopes to build his business selling insurance and debt-reduction software and is considering marketing himself through a speakers bureau to share his story — “if the terms were right. I have to earn a living.”

“If what I have is helpful to other people, then I want to make that available to them,” he said. “If it’s not, then I’m perfectly happy building my business.”

Haggard also plans to launch a nonprofit group to help the poor and needy, his Web site says. As for a return to pastoring a church, Haggard said: “I have learned enough to know a lot can happen to anybody. And when Jesus is our Lord, we can’t plan our path.”

The nature of Haggard’s return — and his harsh words in the film for his former church — is drawing criticism. Haggard is also is to tape an “Oprah Winfrey Show” appearance next week for an episode scheduled to air this month, a spokesman for the show confirmed Friday.

“If you’re going to come out and begin a new life, why would you choose an HBO documentary, then meet with the liberal Hollywood press?” said H.B. London, a former counselor to Haggard and an executive at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. “The fact that he’s attacking the church or New Life Church, when they did so much to help him and his family, is below the belt.”

Haggard lashes out at “the church” in the documentary, which was produced by Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He said “the church has said go to hell” and “the church chose not to forgive me.”

Over a 14-month period ending Dec. 31, 2007, New Life Church paid the Haggard family $309,020 in salary and benefits, according to a church document obtained by The Associated Press.

The payout included $152,360 in salary for Ted Haggard, $62,177 in salary for his wife, Gayle, $26,426 for counseling, $11,168 for legal fees and $26,000 to help care for the couple’s special-needs son, who is in his early 20s.

Haggard on Friday said his family is grateful for the severance, but he was angry for being forced to leave Colorado Springs as one condition. He also challenged the church’s statement that he halted a process meant to restore him, saying he still receives counseling.

The church has since released Haggard from all restrictions, including a prohibition on speaking publicly, and both Haggard and church leadership say relations are positive.

Haggard’s successor at New Life, Brady Boyd, wrote in a blog post Friday that “the motives behind every decision” involving the Haggards were pure, and the church was generous in its severance and support. He would not respond to Haggard’s specific complaints.

In the AP interview, Haggard credited his therapists, whom he described as Christian believers who used secular therapy methods.

“I just thought a spiritual solution would be the solution to everything that’s internal,” Haggard said. “That turned out not to be the case.”

Of Mike Jones, his accuser, Haggard said: “I know he’s gone through a lot. When he said he had to say something, I believe it. And I think that was God encouraging him to do that.”

Jones said Friday he considers Haggard a salesman seeking attention for his business.

“I know he’s apologized to his church and family, blah, blah,” Jones said. “But the people he hurt is the gay community, and he’s never apologized to the gay community. He owes that.”

Haggard has said his childhood experiences, including same-sex “sex play” with friends when he was in the seventh grade, started to manifest themselves when he turned 50, a few months before the scandal. That conflicts with Jones’ statement that Haggard paid him for sex for three years. Haggard on Friday declined to discuss the discrepancy.

At Least 46 Killed as White terrorists attack Gaza School

Business as usual.

In the deadliest single attack on Gaza civilians since the war began, Israel fired three mortar shells at the United Nations’ al-Fahoura school in the Jabalya refugee camp. The school was filled with civilians who had been forced from their homes by the Israeli invasion, and the attack killed at least 46. The United Nations reports that at least 55 other civilians were wounded in the attack.

The United Nations says the building was clearly marked with UN flags and that they were in contact with the Israeli military when the war began to inform them of the location of the school precisely to prevent it being targeted.

Indeed, the Israeli military does not seem to deny that they deliberately targeted a building they knew to be filled with hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians. Instead they claim that Hamas militants were using the school as a base of operations, something the United Nations adamantly denies.

“So far we’ve not had violations by militants of our facilities,” insists UN Relief and Works Agency Gaza Director John Grig, who added that those seeking shelter in the school were carefully vetted to ensure that no militants were allowed inside. Israel’s claims about the compound only came hours after the international community began to express outrage over the killings: initially they promised simply to “look into the incident.”

The outrage over the killings was so palpable, in fact, that even President-elect Barack Obama managed to find his voice to briefly speak on the Gaza conflict for the first time. Though he insisted he had “plenty to say on the matter,” he said little else, instead promising more elaborate comments after January 20th. Hopefully in another two weeks the president-elect will be able to decide if attacking a school full of civilians is a good thing, or a bad thing.

Freed White cannibal “deeply ashamed”

Remember : if you’re white, just plead insanity and they’ll set you free…

An attorney for a woman accused of killing, dismembering and cannibalizing her ex-boyfriend says she’s ashamed for doing a “horrible thing.”

Jane Lynn Woodry was found not guilty by reason of insanity after the 1993 slaying of 51-year-old Peter Green of Alamosa.

She was committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo but has gradually won more freedom since then. In 2005, she was allowed to move into an apartment off the state hospital campus in Pueblo.

Woodry, who changed her name from Carolyn Gloria Blanton in 1999, was in court last week seeking conditional release.

Alamosa County District Judge Pattie Swift did not say when she would issue a ruling.

Woodry’s attorney, Bill Martinez, quoted Woodry as saying, “I’m deeply ashamed. The person who killed Peter Green is not me.”

He said Woodry, now 54, hasn’t suffered any manifestations of schizophrenia for years and is committed to her treatment. Authorities say they found marijuana with Woodry in 2006, but Martinez called that a “bump in the road.”

Psychiatrist Elissa Ball, who has treated Woodry for a decade, recommended conditional release. She testified that Woodry can tell right from wrong and is unlikely to do anything violent if she stays on medication.

Ball said Woodry would still to get medication and her home would be subject to random searches if she gets conditional release.

Ball said she didn’t anticipate recommending unconditional release for Woodry in the foreseeable future, if ever.

Prosecutors said Susan Adelman, a relative of the victim, would not object to the judge’s eventual ruling as long as Woodry is monitored and does not have complete freedom to do whatever she wants if she is given conditional release.

Adelman’s relationship to the victim wasn’t immediately known.

White terrorists continue killings, invade Gaza

Not even children are spared.

A column of Israeli tanks rolled into the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday in the start of a ground offensive against Hamas. The Israeli military confirmed that a force had entered the Gaza Strip to seize some areas used to fire rockets.

Israeli security officials said the operation is likely to go on, but the goal is not to reoccupy Gaza. The depth and intensity will depend on parallel diplomatic efforts, the officials said, according to the AP.

document.write(‘<SCR’+'IPT src=”http://ads.albawaba.com/advertpro/servlet/view/banner/javascript/zone?zid=287&pid=0&random=’ +
Math.floor(89999999*Math.random()+10000000)+’&millis=’+new Date().getTime()+’” language=”JavaScript” type=”text/javascript”></SCR’+'IPT>’Israel’s campaign “won’t be easy and it won’t be short,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a televised address shortly after the ground invasion began. “We do not seek war but we will not abandon our citizens to the ongoing Hamas attacks. Maj. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli army spokeswoman, told CNN: “We have many, many targets. To my estimation, it will be a lengthy operation.”

Israel has ordered the call-up of tens of thousands of military reservists as part of the ground offensive, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said in a statement late Saturday. It said that, in accordance with a secret cabinet discussion on Friday, the government ordered the armed forces “to draft the necessary reservists, on a scale of tens of thousands of troops”.

A text message sent by Hamas’ military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, said “the Zionists started approaching the trap which our fighters prepared for them.”

Hamas said it also broadcast a Hebrew message on Israeli military radio frequencies promising to kill and kidnap the Israeli soldiers. “Be prepared for a unique surprise, you will be either killed or kidnapped and will suffer mental illness from the horrors we will show you,” the message said.

Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said in a televised speech that Gaza will “become a graveyard” for Israeli soldiers. He appeared on Hamas’ Al Aqsa TV shortly after the ground offensive started. After the invasion, Hamas spokespeople and gunmen fired off fiery warnings to the Israeli forces. In another message, Hamas warned Israeli forces that “Gaza will not be paved with flowers for you, it will be paved with fire and hell.”

White woman arrested for raping daughter’s boyfriend

I thought I’d heard it all…

Claymont, Delaware (The Weekly Vice) — Juli Faunce, a 38-year-old Claymont, Delaware mom has been arrested on charges of having sex with her teenage daughter’s 14-year-old friend. She then allegedly tried to have the teen boy arrested after learning her daughter was sleeping with him too.

Confused yet? Well let’s sort this twisted little threesome out.

According to police, officers were dispatched to Overlook Colony Apartments on Sunday, where they met Juli Faunce who informed them that a 14-year-old boy had allegedly forced her daughter to have sex with him.

When investigators interviewed the boy’s mother, she informed them that she had just learned that her son had sex, but that it was the 38-year-old Faunce he allegedly had sex with instead.

After an investigation into the flurry of allegations, detectives now say Faunce had sex with the boy on two occasions in November while he was staying the night at her apartment.

New Castle County investigators say Faunce recently learned that her teen daughter had begun to have a sexual relationship with the boy and called police because she was unhappy with her daughter’s new relationship.

Faunce was arrested and charged with four counts of third-degree rape. She was released from jail after posting a $40,000 bond.

88 year old Granny puts the Squeeze on White rapist

So much for foreplay….

PORTLAND, Ore. (Dec. 30) – The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said an 88-year-old woman fended off a naked intruder by grabbing the man’s balls and squeezing.

Deputy Paul McRedmond said the man got into the house Tuesday through a sliding door. He backed the woman into her living room and pushed her face down onto a chair.

“I thought it was somebody I knew, but then seeing him without clothing, you know, it’s nobody I knew,” the woman, who said she does not want to be named, told Oregon’s KPTV.

She told the television station that he followed her, and kept pushing against her.

“Before whatever plans the suspect might have had, the woman reached behind her and grabbed the man by the crotch, ‘giving him a good squeeze’,” McRedmond told Oregon’s Salem-News. “The man tore free and ran back out the way he had come in.”

The woman told KPTV that she recalled an old news story where a woman survived by grabbing her attacker’s testicles.

McRedmond said a county code enforcement officer who heard the police call on his radio spotted a car near the woman’s house and passed on the license information to authorities.

Troutdale police arrested Michael G. Dick, 46, according to The Oregonian newspaper. Dick has been jailed on accusations of burglary, harassment and private indecency. Bail was set at $110,000.

Whie man involved North Carolina Killings Shoots Self During Standoff

What a way to start the new year

CANDLER, N.C.  —  A police standoff with a man suspected of killing three people and kidnapping two of his children in western North Carolina ended Friday when the man turned a gun on himself, authorities said.

The two children were safe in police custody, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Ross Dillingham said.

Richard D. Heatwole, 45, is suspected of killing his ex-wife and two other people who have not been identified. Richard Heatwole was on probation for a Florida drug charge, Dillingham said.

Dillingham said the case still was being investigated and wouldn’t discuss a motive for the slayings. He also said the identities of the other victims hadn’t been released.

Dillingham said Heatwole fled Buncombe County with the children to a cousin’s house near Taylorsville in Alexander County, where officers found him. The spokesman said Heatwole committed suicide at the cousin’s house and that the children and cousin were there. Taylorsville is about 90 miles northeast of Candler, which is near Asheville.

An Amber Alert was issued Thursday for Hayes Heatwole, 6, and Haley Heatwole, 10, after the three people were found dead.

One victim at the slaying scene was identified as Angela Heatwole, 49. Dillingham said the slayings in Candler involved two houses. Angela Heatwole and another person were found in one home. The third victim, a woman, was found in a nearby house. Authorities haven’t said how the three were killed.

The bodies were discovered when deputies were called to check on a house. Later, yellow crime scene tape was strung in front of both dwellings.

“We did not get anybody at the door, but based upon something the initial deputy saw, we thought there were some people in the house, but they weren’t coming to the door,” Dillingham told the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Neighbors said Richard Heatwole operated a golf driving range.

Neighbor Clyde Curtis lives across the road from the homes where the bodies were found and said Richard Heatwole “seemed friendly enough. You never expect anything like this in your neighborhood.”